


Thought You Loved It

by Kevin_From_The_Radio



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Backstory, Blood, Everything is beautiful and gay, M/M, Non-evil Kevin, Normal human Kevin, Romance, SO VERY GAY, Sexual Content, Violent Sex, crazy people, cross-dressing, headcannons, lots of blood, maybe out of character..., medication abuse, no character descriptions, ongoing, so many headcannons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:00:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4196475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kevin_From_The_Radio/pseuds/Kevin_From_The_Radio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who Kevin was before Strex Corp and who he was after. Who he loved, what he wanted, and the leftovers. </p><p>Two brilliant, handsome men make a pact to discover the root of the double phenomenon and destroy a certain evil company from within. Are the consequences too much and what effect will this have on Kevin's beloved Desert Bluffs?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lighthouse

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be sexual and violent as are all good fanfics ; ) Besides, what would a story that centers on Kevin be without some blood? I will not describe anyone’s personal appearance to exactness, as it really annoys me when people do and everyone has their own ideas. I am using an original idea for Carlos’s double in this story. I have dubbed him Santonino because I think that’s a hot name. lol. This story takes place both before and after 70B. It will be confusing, if you're not that far in the podcast. Thank you for being a part of our beautiful fandom. I, of course, do not own any of this and am in awe of the amazingly creative people that do. Finally, I should warn you that I’m turning the slow, sweet love story that we loved in Cecilos on its head with Kevin’s story. Expect lots of snark, sexual tension, and boldness in these two. Enjoy reading and don't be shy with your comments.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin deals with Carlos leaving the desert otherworld

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter has been edited for typos. But I always seem to miss some. So, let me know if any of them pain you).

**“If you love something, set it free. If it doesn’t come back, it probably died of sadness because it thought you loved it”.**

70b

* * *

 

  **Directly after 70A:**

After Kevin had read Carlos’s letter, he’d tuned off his mic a full five minutes ahead of time. Taking off from work early was detestable. He wouldn’t have done it in a situation short of death on a normal day. But Kevin had been unable to keep the pep in his voice and he knew that expressing negative emotions on the radio just wouldn’t do. If Santonino had heard his voice crack the way it had, he would have been so disappointed in Kevin. Not that it mattered, Santonino was probably dead. Even if he wasn’t, he hadn’t come looking for Kevin all this long year in the desert otherworld and that would be worse. Cecil had come after Carlos, there was no good reason Santonino would not have come for Kevin. Surely, the development of his medicine was not that important and he didn’t even have Strex to back him anymore.

 _The medicine_ Kevin thought, reaching into his yellow, Prada handbag. He had thankfully had a good grip on it, when Steve Carlsberg had thrown him into what would be New Desert Bluffs. He had been careful to ration the pills out, so that he only got to have them when he really absolutely could not go on smiling. It was Santonio’s special patented formula, that had made him such a powerful instrument to Strex Corp. Just one small tablet and you just couldn’t help but be happy. When things had gone to hell for the company, he’d been in the middle of creating an airborne version for Night Vale. Kevin had 7 left of his original 100 count bottle. He took two. At his deteriorated body weight, a half probably would have done it. He then fished out his wallet from under the piles of cosmetics and other normal things that he hadn't used for months. It matched the bag. He was hesitant to open it, knowing that two of his most prized possessions would be in plain view. However, he needed to keep his only and probably last letter from his dear Carlos safe. He opened the wallet and there in the little slot that should contain his driver’s licensee was the photo of their first date, a selfie that Kevin had previously had hanging in a purposely blood free area of his old recording booth. In showed Santonio smirking at the camera, so like Carlos and yet exuding such a different, refined temperament. His suit was all black providing a vibrant contrast to his date, Kevin, who sat beside him in a shirt printed with yellow sunflowers, holding yellow roses in his lap. He was smiling brightly even without the medicine. Next to the photograph, on the little hook that should have held his car key, was his engagement ring. He’d grown tired of looking at it, as he wandered aimlessly through the desert. He placed Carlos’s letter, behind his stack of useless 100 dollar bills, his last lavish gift from his missing lover. There were even more stashed away in his bank account, back in that place that used to be home. Certainly it had been a life insurance policy, a quiet way of saying that he wasn’t sure he’d able to come back. Kevin hadn’t even noticed the money until Santonio was gone.

It took two hours of speedy walking to reach the light house on top of the mountain, not easy for Kevin as his only shoes were healed cowboy boots. It was empty. Without Carlos here, he expected he would be the only one who cared to look at the moving pictures. He sat against the far wall, so that he could see them all and waited. He had never seen Santonio here. There weren’t that many people in Night Vale, Cecil or Carlos would appear soon amongst the many frames. He tuned the radio, searching for his doubles finer, smoother voice, trying not dwell on his jealousy of that feature among so many other things. Sometimes, Carlos had been able to find Cecil’s show. Kevin knew from the other man’s complaints that Cecil loved to talk about him on the radio. He wasn’t sure what stung him more about that, Cecil having Carlos to talk about or that Kevin had always talked about every step of Santonio’s achievements for Strex on the radio, at least the things he was allowed too. He knew he hated both aspects. But he was glad he would be able to hear where Carlos had gone. He remembered what it had been like to succumb to sadness. He wanted to hear that the one who’s looks and ambitions, if not temperament, so reminded him of Santonio was safe and it was clear from his note that he was not to call him.

 _I was too forward with my compliments on the radio_ Kevin thought. He knew it was a sad thought, yet he could not feel it through the haze of the drugs. 

After a good three hours of constant fiddling, he finally found Cecil’s broadcast. It was near its end. He listened intently as Cecil described discovering Carlos at the opera after party and how joyous their reunion had been. As if the device understood what he was doing, the lighthouse began to show him the events on a large canvas. Their bright smiles and grasping touches as they reunited in the center of the party was enough to bring Kevin to quiet tears. Sure he was jealous of this kind of happiness, but he was also happy. He liked that the only friend he had left was so joyous, even if he was going to die alone in the desert. It helped that he was on a huge dose of uppers and he knew this. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he ran out. He wondered if taking the other 5 at once would kill him. He imagined it would be a very pleasant death and he had always wanted to die pleasantly.

He rolled away from the image of the beautiful lovers and turned to face the blank wall, thinking how lovely the different shades of brick complemented each other and how amazingly cool the cobble floor was against his skin. It was all so quiet and comfortable, it didn’t test his happiness at all. Not like the sight of blood strewn all over the studio walls, which before the medicine would have set him to gagging. Before the medicine, getting a paper cut had made him sick. Kevin had been extremely phobic of bleeding and seeing blood. It was so powerful now to look at it and feel nothing. Even when he hadn’t taken the pills, the effects seemed to linger. He took every opportunity to prove he was stronger than that now, just as Santonio had instructed him too. He wanted to look at the splatters that stained his faded, yellow dress shirt. But that would mean rolling over and he was so comfy.

He began to imagine that he was hearing Santonio’s voice, darker and more eloquent than Carlos’s, lecturing him for abusing the pills, reminding him they were only for the good purpose of increased productivity. He sounded as if were just behind him. Kevin quickly rolled over and to his surprise, it was not a hallucination. Santonio was looking out a Kevin from the canvas, his voice playing through the radio. He was delighted! Neither his drugs nor the light house had ever resulted in such a marvelous trick. He was watching his own memories play across the screen. Later, he wasn't really sure when he stopped watching and started reliving.

One moment, he was lying on the floor of the light house. The next his lemon printed high heels were clicking across the marble foyer of the Desert Bluffs Community Radio and he had forgotten the former ever existed. He was running late, thanks to another night of heavy drinking with his old friend, the local soccer coach. But Kevin had long ago mastered running in heels and was just in time to read over his notes, before the on-air light blinked to life, bathing his pristinely clean studio in a warm, yellow light. He was excited to announce the big news that a large company by the name of Strex Corp was moving into town, surely the economic boom the community needed. His intern, Vanessa was going to be reporting live to him from the company press conference in celebration of their new building. She sent him many images to describe to the listeners, which he did in lavish detail from the beautiful glass walled building to the shine of the CEO’s dress shoes. Towards the end of the broadcast, Vanessa sent him one last photo.

“Oh, I almost forgot” It was captioned. “Check out the hot doctor who’s supposed to be working on some kind of new anti-depressant for the company! They should just bottle him ;) …I swear to god, Kevin! You better not say that on the radio”! He didn't say anything on the radio, as the show was almost over and he hadn’t even reported on the traffic or the attractive, glowing cloud that had been seen out in the sand waste. So, there was no time really to decide how he would describe such a stunning man.

He waited for Vanessa to return to the studio, after his show. Despite the fact that this was usually when he would go get his dinner, before he made his notes for the next day. He wanted to ask her if she had any more information about or photographs of the attractive doctor. He had never seen a man so handsome before and he just had to know more. To his utter shock, Vanessa came through the door with none other than the doctor.

Kevin was mortified. He was in no way prepared to meet this man! Sure, he was wearing nice heels that made his legs look just amazing. But he had no idea what he would even say and he had on his favorite, well-worn Community Radio polo. The one that was faded in color and had an ink stain on the right sleeve. Luckily he was able to step quickly back into his office, adjacent to Vanessa’s, before he was spotted. At least he thought so, but as he stepped back the click of his heels caught the doctor’s attention. He glanced back for just a moment, taking a slightly longer than polite look at Kevin’s shoes, smirking, and following the chattering intern into her office. Kevin shut his door quickly, peaking through the clearer edges of the frosted glass. As was usual, Vanessa didn’t bother to shut her door. He could see her seated at her desk. The beautiful doctor hung his long, black coat on a peg, before taking a chair directly in front of the door. Kevin could see the whole right side of his profile perfectly. His attractive figure was easy to make out under a tight burgundy sweater and straight, grey pants. Kevin was getting turned on just looking at the guy! The way he gestured with his hands when he spoke, the easy recline of his posture, how every beautiful hair on his head was tucked in just the right place; this guy was shitty romance novel perfect! He desperately hoped Vanessa was asking him good questions, he wanted to know all about him. After several minutes of just dumbly watching, Kevin carefully cracked open his door in order to hear the voice that went with this beautiful person.

“..Boss, you said his name was Kevin” the handsome doctor was saying. The deep tone and perfect pronunciation of his words had Kevin weak in the knees. “You want me to talk to him on the radio? Yes, I suppose it would be good for the company. Do you have his phone number? By the way, he’s tall and pretty, isn't he? Wears heels”?

 _Shit!_ Kevin thought. _Is he going to say I’m over here? Did he just call me pretty!?_

“Yeah and a lot of yellow” Vanessa answered, as if this practical stranger calling Kevin attractive wasn’t weird at all.  “Here’s his number on this card. Hey, how did you know about his clothes? Didn’t you just get here today? Is his risqué fashion that famous”?

“I saw him at the grocery store” the doctor lied, smoothly. He was looking at the card, punching something into his phone.

 _Wait! Is he going to call me!?_ Kevin thought, realizing his phone was on full volume. He quickly pulled it out, custom made to be sunshine yellow, and turned the volume down just in time to get a text.

“Good Evening, Kevin” it read. “Your pretty intern says you write your notes at dinner, this time of evening. I wonder what you and your glorious, long legs are doing hiding in your own office? I won’t tell if you won’t ;) – Santonino”.

“Let’s do your interview tomorrow” Kevin texted back, boldly. His whole body was hot from the comment about his legs. Even so, he was still irritated that he had also called Vanessa pretty. Admittedly, Kevin did think Vanessa was pretty and smart as well. He’d never touched her, though. He didn’t like the idea of women in the long term and screwing Vanessa over wouldn’t be good for their working relationship. 

“Can you do it after your regular show?” was the reply “Pretty Vanessa says that time slot is negotiable. I prefer evening hours. Say Kevin, do you think Vanessa is pretty”?

“Well, yes” Kevin replied, despite the awkwardness of the question.

“I think you’re more attractive, personally” Santonio replied. “Sadly, I barely got to see you. Tomorrow will be fun :)”.

Kevin watched through the door as Santonio placed his simple, flip phone into his pocket.

“Your boss seems quite pleased with the interview” Santonio informed Vanessa and then to Kevin’s shock he leaned across the desk, shoved her chair back a bit, and kissed her fully on the lips, wrapping a hand possessively around the side of her neck. The kiss was long, positioned perfectly so Kevin could not only see every tilt of the head from his crack in the door, but also how tight the Santonio’s pants were on his perfect backside. Kevin even saw his tongue slip of his interns mouth. Vanessa was as red as a fresh strawberry.

“It was nice meeting you, pretty Vanessa” Santonio called back as he exited the office, carrying his coat over his arm rather than pausing to put it back on. Vanessa was frozen in shock. The doctor smiled directly at Kevin’s office door as he walked out, it was simultaneously one of the most beautiful and terrifying sights the radio host had ever seen.

“It’ll only be as fun as you make it” Kevin texted back, determined not be daunted. He could play the game of teasing, just as well as anyone. He would have this man!

\---end 1---

"The Lighthouse". 


	2. Avoiding Boredom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beautiful beginning of a really weird relationship and an ongoing, also weird relationship with an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The character introduced in this chapter as Lester Fielding is Earl Harlan’s double. I choose this name because I wanted something that inspires the same amount of hick-ness as the name Earl. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

It was still a full hour until Kevin had to walk from his flat across the street to the radio station. He was never ready this early, but he had an extra exciting game to play. He’d changed his clothes at least seven times and as he surveyed himself in his floor length closet mirror, he was still considering going back to outfit number two. It was a tight black tuxedo with yellow pin stripes, wingtip shoes, and fake Gerber daisy, that he liked to wear in the jacket pocket. It was hot, but it wasn’t quite as risqué as what he was wearing at the moment. He never dressed like this, at least not at work, and he knew Vanessa was going to taunt the hell out of him for it. But he just had to bring his A game, today. He wasn’t sure he had ever wanted to attract a man so much and Kevin did not lose man hunts! 

 _Screw it_  he thought, doing a full spin in front of the mirror causing his yellow mini skirt to fan around him. _A man who likes other men in heels will die over this. I have too!_ He made sure his black dress shirt was tucked in perfectly and made a last minute decision to button it all the way to the top, in order to keep all the attention on his legs. He added a yellow tie, slipped on his black 2 inch heels and was off to the station to review his notes.

“Looking good, Kevin!” one of the IT guys called, when he passed them on the way to his booth. A weaker person might have been put off by this, but Kevin knew them to be good natured. He blew a kiss.

He ended his show for that day with a particularly cryptic line, well aware that his guest for the evening was listening outside the door.

“Most beloved listeners, know that the moon is full above our beautiful city of both light and promise for evening of the most exciting events. Look into the most gorgeous night sky and allow it to energize you for fun times to come. As always, I wish you sweetest of dreams. Or if you, like I, choose not to dream just yet, have the most glorious of adventures. Tune back in within the next hour for a special interview with our new companies most prized chemist, Dr. Santonio. He has such a lovely voice. I promise you won’t be disappointed. For now, have the sound of six children playing with marbles and jacks”.

When he flipped off the on-air switch, the door immediately clicked open. Kevin took the opportunity to spin around dramatically in his desk chair, so to unveil his carefully chosen outfit all at once. Santonio rewarded him with his beautiful smirk.

“I do like the dress code at this station” he commented. “I might feel flattered. But Vanessa leads me to believe you pretty much always dress like this”.

“You don’t know the half of it. Do you know what you’re going to say on the radio or do you want me to coach you” Kevin replied, struggling to suppress his blush and doing his absolute best to sound all business. He knew that coming off cold was a sure way to lure them in for the kill. Santonio seemed to take the hint, taking the desk chair next to Kevin’s and producing a small, leather bound notebook from his pocket.

“I’m already prepared. I’m very good at public speaking, didn’t Vanessa tell you?” Santonio asked. “By the way, she won’t talk to me today, not even look at me really. I hope the show I gave you ends up being worth the eternal scorn of you intern”.

“I doubt it’s eternal. She told me you’re hot. She liked it.” Kevin replied, purposely neglecting to mention how he felt about the “show”. He got down on his knees, leaning over to slowly ruffle through the filing cabinet for his interview questions, his back purposely turned to the other man. He wasn’t entirely sure his skirt was even covering all of his tiny, yellow boxer briefs.

“What about you” Santonio asked in a cold tone. Kevin grabbed his notes from exactly where he had known they were and walked back to his chair. Santonio was smirking and he’d put on a pair of simple black reading glasses, which Kevin just immediately loved!

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked, although he knew exactly what the other man meant.

“Do you agree with Vanessa’s estimation of me” Santonio asked, making direct eye contact. Kevin cocked his head to side, as if to look thoughtful.

“Vanessa is a good judge of such things. She got drunk and grabbed my ass at the Christmas party” Kevin finally said, flashing a full smile.

“Yes, well she must be then and I must say that as much as the skirt flatters you, it’s a bit too loose for my taste. The skinny jeans yesterday were better”.

“If we’re criticizing fashion choices, you look better in black. But since you aim to put on shows for me, you probably already know that” Kevin commented, taking his time to visually explore his new obsession’s simple outfit of a short sleeved, black t-shirt, black jeans, and white converse sneakers. He’d worn his hair looser today, as if he had just crawled out of bed. 

“I do” he agreed. “I expect it’s similar to your knowing how good you look in heels. I wonder how many pairs you have…”

“47” Kevin cut him off.

“I would like to see that” Santonio suggested. “Maybe, you’ll show me sometime”.

“I might, how many pairs of tight pants do you have”? Santonio laughed at that. Kevin thought the sound was rather diabolical, but mostly a turn on.

“Plenty more, I assure you. I’ll wear a different pair when next I see you”. Kevin liked the easy way he alluded to seeing him again. 

“We need to talk about the radio” Kevin reminded him, yet he sat down so that his skirt covered as little of his legs as possible.

“There’s no need”.

“Have you ever been on the rad…”.

“There’s no need” Santonio said more sternly. “I’m an honest man. I will answer your questions well enough when you ask them. I’m new here, you know. I would rather spend this time making what I am hoping will be a good friend”.

“Only good?” Kevin asked.

“At least good”.

“That’s not very hopeful”.

“If we’re friends, you can help out with that” Santonio offered.

“Indeed” Kevin agreed, smiling.

“Let’s shake on it” Santonio offered, holding out his hand. The stern gesture combined with such a childish offer almost made Kevin laugh. But he suppressed it with all his might.

“You want to seal a friendship like a business deal” Kevin inquired, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Rather serious, don’t you think? What if you end up finding me a little too weird for your taste”?

“I weird enough to like men in skirts and besides, I’ll agree to let you tell me when to give up. Does that seem fair”?

 _Ooooh, how ridiculous!_ Kevin thought, finding it hard to wrap his head around this offer.

“Done” is all the radio host said, extending his hand.

Santonio shook it. His grip was a bit firmer than what would be expected. He then caught Kevin completely off guard by pulling his hand to his lips, closing his eyes, and placing a gentle, lengthy kiss on it. Afterwards, he quickly let go and again. There was no way Kevin could stop his blush now.

“That wasn’t so business like” the host commented.

“I struggle with all that, really. I’m a chemist, not a bureaucrat. Dangerous chemicals are much more exciting than business lunches” he explained. “I hope spontaneity won’t hurt our new friendship”.

“It won’t” Kevin promised. “I hate being bored. Boredom is sad”. Feeling bolder from their little bargain, Kevin winked at the doctor. “I’ll be wanting to hear all about those chemicals”.

Santonio was deadly serious during his radio interview. He described details of the projects that he was working on that went right over Kevin’s k-12 educated head. But even if he didn’t completely understand him, he understood the passion behind his words. This was someone who was absolutely dedicated to what he did, the same as Kevin himself. He wasn’t just attracted to this person, he understood him.

He’d been staring dreamily at the side of Santonio’s head for a few moments, before he was jostled back to awareness by the other man standing up and whispering in his ear. “I’m done talking, but you have five more minutes of airtime. Say wonderful things about how you think it’s so nice that new science is being done here in town or something…”

“Listeners!” Kevin quickly shot into action. “Isn’t it just so grand to have such a bright, new scientific mind among our stunning population? Won’t we make him feel just so welcome amongst us? I for one think I’ve made a great new friend here to..”

Before he could go any further he had to stop and gasp. Santonio had begun to kiss his neck the moment he had stopped whispering and the kissed were destergrating in harsh bites.

“Sorry, Cut my hand on my notes” he quickly recovered. “Anyway, good night”! He flipped the mike off and shoved Santonio away harshly. The doctor laughed.

“You don’t seem bored” the doctor teased. “I must be doing a good job. Have dinner with me, tonight. Take me somewhere good. I have no idea where to eat here”.

Kevin only rose and smiled, signaling for Santonio to follow him out the door. Inside, he was screaming success. When Kevin moved to signal for cab, Santonio only shook his head and gestured towards a yellow, Yamaha motorcycle parked down the street. Kevin could have screamed with excitement like a 7 year old girl. Instead, he walked slowly towards it. Overwhelming interest never got the cool guys out of their nice suits.

“Nice color” Kevin commented.

“I based it on your shoe choice yesterday” Santonio explained. 

"What"!?

“I came here on a plane without a car. I needed something to drive, until the shipping container arrives with my Harley and I kinda always wanted one of these too. It’s a gift to myself in honor of how big of a job I’m taking on here….and I liked your shoe color, so why not”? Santonio explained, as if it wasn’t a big deal to just pop out and buy a motorcycle based on the shoe color of someone whom he had only spoken to in a grand total of three text messages. Kevin realized that this might be the moment when a normal person would be really freaked out and he loved it!

“Like I said, excellent color choice. Did you match the helmet too it?” he asked, genuinely concerned about it.

“A helmet isn’t going to save me if I crash that, It can hit 300” He commented. “I’ll show you sometime. But right now, I want food. I can’t cook. I’ve been eating ramen since I got here. If we go 300, we’ll be out of town way too quickly”.

“You’re actually serious, aren’t you?” Kevin inquired, feeling giddy with interest.

“I told you that I’m an honest man” he repeated, smirking.

“Neat". 

Kevin had suppressed the feeling yesterday, knowing that getting one’s hopes up was usually bound for sadness and he absolutely would not abide by that. But he couldn’t deny anymore that his guy was going to be a game changer. He took him to a diner that served waffles all hours of the day and insisted on making him try every one of the seven kinds of syrup there, claiming that someone who had lived off Ramen for 24 hours must need to eliminate the taste boredom. Santonio agreed with him, but absolutely would not allow the syrups touch each other. Even if Kevin thought some of them tasted better that way. 

“Can I walk you home?” Santonio asked, as the stepped out of the diner.

“Well, yeah…but the really expensive motorcycle” Kevin commented.

“I have insurance. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time in the lab. I should get some exercise. …Oh, your shoes won’t work for that” the doctor replied.

“Please! I ran to work in heels, yesterday. Practice. Besides, we’re only five minutes from the station anyway. I live right across”. Santonio looked hesitantly at Kevin’s feet, but nodded.

Kevin didn’t shut up the whole walk, talking in detail about all the best places and people in town. When they got to the door to his building, he suddenly realized how silent his companion had been. 

“What no cocky comments?” he inquired.

“I was making a hypothesis" he replied. “I don’t say much when I’m thinking”.

“Important medical nonsense?” Kevin inquired, smiling.

“Well, it was important…”Santonio replied, before rather roughly shoving Kevin up against the wall of his building and leaning in so that his face was hair’s breadth away from the other man’s. Kevin could barely stay focused enough to breath.

“But I’m very sure about it” Santonio added, before he leaned in to kiss Kevin firmly on the lips.

It took the radio host all of two seconds to wrap both his hands firmly in the other man’s hair. Santonio gasped in response, affording Kevin the prefect opportunity to get in his mouth. He felt the doctor running his hand up inside his skirt as he nipped down lightly on Kevin’s tongue. But then Santonio quickly pulled away. Kevin didn’t understand it. Everything about the man’s actions for two days indicated that he wanted to come upstairs, right down to the look currently in his eyes.

“PDA not your thing?” Kevin inquired.

“I’m a tease, not a slut” the doctor said in a rough voice.

“That’s a shame” Kevin commented, popping open the top three buttons of his shirt, watching the other man’s eyes follow him as he did.

“I’m beginning to think so myself” Santonio agreed, leaning in again. This time he grabbed Kevin’s face with both his hands, before going in for a long, heated kiss. Just when Kevin thought he was going to melt on the sidewalk, Santonio stepped back again. He smiled and waved.

“I’ll come see you again, soon” The doctor said in parting, before he crossed the street and began to walk back towards his motorcycle. Kevin just looked on dumbstruck for a moment, until he caught up with the flow of time. At which point Santonio had already walked out of sight.

He met Vanessa, who also lived in his building, on his way to his own rooms.  She looked him up and down with a deep blush. He hadn’t even buttoned his shirt back.

“Looks like the club won, tonight” she commented. “That’s one hell of a bite mark on your neck, dating vampires now”?

“Good Night, Pretty Vanessa” was all he said before walking on by and slipping inside his own room. She gasped. He immediately took a very long shower. Afterwards he fell asleep trying to decide if should text his new…whatever he was. His phone buzzing woke him back up.

He had new text messages, all from Santonio:

“If your feet hurt, put them in hot water. If your neck hurts, a Tylenol should do the trick. Put some ice on it and Vanessa will have less to mock you about in the morning”.

“Think of somewhere you’d like to go. I’ll take you there when I come back”.

“Thank you. I feel quite welcome in this town, now”.

Kevin smiled stupidly at the screen for a while, before finally coming up with an interesting enough reply.

“I rather like the way my neck hurts. Don’t take too long, waiting is boring! And I think after our conversation, it will hard to be amused with other people”.

He fell asleep feeling giddy with excitement. He was somewhat less pleased, when his new companion had failed to show or message him for a solid week. He decided to cure his blues with a phone call to Lester Fielding, the local little league soccer coach, high school art teacher, and his closest friend.

“I need to get really wasted” Kevin said into the phone, before his friend had a chance to speak.

“I’m at practice. Please don’t go downtown by yourself. I’ll be by the station in an hour” Lester replied. “How should I dress? Are you taking me somewhere casual clothes are going to get me bounced”?

“Absolutely” Kevin replied, hanging up the phone. Lester was just the best, ever since he’d come back from his failed attempt at leaving the Bluffs with only a daughter and a faulty memory to show for it, he and Kevin were back to behaving like party crazy, high school kids.

He poked in Vanessa’s office to thank her for a wonderfully productive day and invited her to go clubbing. She reminded him, again, that she did not go to gay clubs and he was off home to paint stars on his face and neck with body glitter. An hour later, he met Lester outside. As usual, he had decided to protect his public identity with black sunglasses and a long pink wig. His usual black leather jacket, covered in rips in studs, was all he wore as a shirt.

“Good enough?” Lester inquired doing a full spin. “Why don’t we ever just go to a bar?”

“You’re perfect, as usual. You know you like this sort of thing. If you didn’t, why would you humor me”?

“I don’t know, Kevin. Maybe so you won’t die?” The completely un-respectful looking teacher snapped. But then he smiled his cute, boyish smile and flipped Kevin off.

“I’ll be just fine, baby” Kevin replied. “What about me though, do I look good enough for a night to remember”? Kevin had gone for minimum clothing, maximum glitter stars. His wore a simple pair of black leggings and a loose, sunshine yellow tank top. He had chosen one of his few pairs of actual, reasonable sneakers in order to dance. 

“They’d be nuts to bounce you, darlin’” Lester replied, wrapping an arm around Kevin’s waist and leading him off to get into his old, beat up Chevy.

As was usually the end result of a night out shared between them, Kevin’s friend found himself forcibly removing him from from the club and carefully escorting him back home. Not that it was really all that responsible, since being less drunk that Kevin didn’t make Lester any less too drunk. Kevin loudly sang along with pop radio as they maneuvered back through town to his apartment. Eventually, Lester joined in. When they arrived, Lester parked his truck and opened the door for Kevin. The radio host bounced out of the car and into his friend’s arms, almost knocking them both to the sidewalk. Kevin then grabbed the other man’s hand and ran to the building door, where he paused, a mischievous smile on his face.

“Has you love life improved this last week”? Kevin slurred, still holding Lester’s hand.

“I would have told you” Lester replied. The dejected look that went with the statement was enough to break Kevin's heart. 

“Then you have no reason not to come up with me” Kevin suggested, wrapping his free hand around his friend’s waist and digging his fake nails into the bare skin. Lester looked momentarily confused, but Kevin was used to that and he knew he really wanted to come. He went in for kill, jerking Lester forward and planting a long, messy kiss on his cheek. Before pulling away and signaling for the other man to follow him inside. Lester did, of course.

 _If only this had worked so well on my new friend_ Kevin thought, temporarily annoyed. But that thought was gone, when his apartment door was locked behind him and Lester was going down on him, without so much as a kiss on the lips.

When he woke up in the morning to the super annoying sound of the doorbell ringing, Lester was already gone. He’d left plenty of scratch marks down Kevin’s torso to mark his trail, though. None of them had bleed, Lester knew better. Groggily, Kevin slipped back on his leggings and walked over to open the door. A ridiculously hot woman wearing a Strex Corp name tag reading Lauren, was looking him up and down with wide eyes. She held three boxes wrapped in yellow paper.

“It was a hell of a night” Kevin explained. “I don’t remember ordering anything, but it wouldn’t be my first drunk shopping trip”.

“It’s not a purchase delivery” the woman explained, carefully balancing the boxes in one hand and producing a note from her blazer pocket. “I’m a personal shopper for Strex. The new chemist sent me to run errands for him this morning, Santonio something. Anyway, these are gifts from him to you. Are you like an item, this is pretty cute…you don’t have to answer that! I’m really not supposed to ask that sort of thing”. Kevin took the note and the boxes, smiling giddily at her. He wasn’t sure how long it’d been since someone had sent him a gift, considering he had no family. 

“Thanks a lot” he said, before quickly shutting the door and carefully peeling open the Strex seal from the envelope. The letter was written on company stationery as well. It simply read. “Kevin, I’m sure you’re bored by now and I do feel bad about that, but my new job is very time consuming. I wanted you to know that I was thinking about you, but a text is rather boring gesture as well. 47 is a terribly odd number. Don’t you think 50 is better? I do. I’ll be by soon. Yours Truly, Santonio”.

“47….”Kevin wondered aloud. “What is he even talking about….OMG! Are these shoes!?” He ripped open the first box. It was indeed a pair of high heels, leather and yellow. He opened another box, this time they were 6 inch, black heels with yellow polka dots. The third contained golden, kitten heels. “This might be the single most romantic thing that’s ever happened to me”!

He lined them up according to height on top of his coffee table and snapped a photo on his phone, which he sent to Santonio along with a smiley face emoji and the statement “Consider me entertained”.  He then called a great Japanese takeout place and ordered lunch for the chemist, including a note that read “Good Places To Eat: Lesson 2. For Lesson 3, you’ll have to come in person. With Love, Kevin”.

 

\---End 2---

"Avoiding Boredom"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that you’ve had time to get to know my headcannon infused characters, are they fun for you as well? I’m attempting to create different temperaments for the doubles, but ultimately a few very similar hopes and goals. Such as Santonio being devoted to his science and attentive to his love interest, yet much cockier and flashier than Carlos has ever been. I'm also trying to create a Kevin who is nuts, but not really all that scary, and kinda loveable too. I wanted to read about a Kevin that wasn't a monster. 
> 
> Thanks to the guest who left me my first Kudo!
> 
> Please send the typos in for re-education.


	3. Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night phone call and a neat proposition

Santonio called Kevin at 3 am, almost a week after he'd sent the shoes. Kevin was never asleep at this hour, after all he worked a night job. The radio host had been in the process of deciding rather or not ordering “beer of the month” from the Home Shopping Network was really worth the surprise factor, when he could just buy different beer himself every month. What if it had some kind of awful flavor, what a waste of good beer money? He answered the call without even looking, expecting Lester’s usual night panics about thinking he’d kidnapped the daughter that looked just freakin like him or that time he’d seen that guy that looked like him in the desert with a whole bunch of boy scouts, trying to identify cactuses.

“That guy had freckles, Lester” He attempted to joke, without giving his friend time to speak. “He can’t be your damn doppelganger if he has freckles”. He got a completely unexpected, throaty chuckle in response.

“Is this some kind of special Desert Bluffs way to answer the phone” Santonio’s smooth voice asked, it was more tired than he remembered it.

“No. It’s a special way to greet the friend who tends to freak out at night and ask you weird questions. Which depending on why you’re calling, may be you too” Kevin replied with a giggle, mentally scolding himself for not reading the I.D. He would make a joke the one time it wasn't Lester. 

“Is he the friend who left those scratch marks on your chest”?

“How do you know….aw, Lauren? Sneaky! What else did she tell you”?

“If I answer, you have to tell me about the scratch marks. In fact, for every question I answer, you’ll do the same. Seems like your kind of game”.

“Ohhhh, yes I like this”!

“Lauren said that your apartment was messy. But that your building was nice. She said that you could see the radio tower from your window. She said she was pretty sure she woke you up at 2pm and that you put back on the clothes that you wore last night, but hopefully not all of them. There was glitter all over you, mostly gold. You had scratch marks trailing down your chest and you weren’t ashamed of them. You thought that the gifts I sent you were drunken shopping orders. She’s also pretty sure that you have a sun tattoo on your hip. But she couldn’t see much of it. She also said that this isn't her job, but I tip well. Keep in mind, she only told me once”.

“No comments on any of that”?

“That’s not how the game works”.

“ooooh, so your turn then”.

“How did you get the marks”?

“hummm….I’m glad you asked so vaguely. Well, you see, I was waiting around for this really attractive guy to call or something and he just never did and you know that I hate being bored. I just won’t abide by it. So, I have this old friend named Lester and I always call him when I just have to go out. He’s beautiful and smart, but way to simple. I think he likes me to compensate for the predictability of his adorable teacher/dad life….well, other than that memory loss thing and that guy in the desert, who he thinks is like his long lost twin. But for people in the Bluffs, that’s not all that weird. …anyway, we went to this awesome gay club downtown. We danced with each other and some other dudes. Fans of my show, if I’m not mistaken…it’s all kinda fuzzy. I really shouldn’t have vodka. But if we don’t drink vodka, Lester doesn’t dance and he’s such a good dancer. Anyway, I had vodka and therefore thought I was invincible and may have tried to dance on the bar and may have fallen off and Lester’s dad mode kicked in, so he made me go home. Then my slut mode kicked in and I made him go upstairs. He’s so easy! All you have to do is look at him the right way, but don’t take that bad. Lester is great, the kids all love him. He just has to let loose somewhere, mostly in bed and weird 3 am phone calls. He’s really into the mixing pain and pleasure. He wore fake nails to the bar. I always let him scratch and all that, but he’s not allowed to make me bleed”.

“I see. Vanity or phobia, I wonder? Anyway, it’s not my turn” Santonio replied.

“Do you like the pain and pleasure thing?” Kevin asked.

“I like whatever you like”.

“Oooooh! That sounds intriguing. Your turn”.

“If Lester is so great, why are you interested in me?” Santonio asked. Kevin could swear he heard a bit of repressed anger in his voice. 

“Because he’s great! I need a little more strange and dangerous in my life. Do I strike you as a soccer mom?! Besides, Les likes kids to much to not marry someone who can produce them”.

“I see. You go” Santonio replied, unmissable warmth now in his tone.

“Why are you interested in me”?

“I’m going to be very busy here. I was very busy in my last job and before that, I was very busy as an intern and a grad student. I don’t regret devoting a great deal of my time to medicine and chemistry as this is endlessly interesting to me. But I don’t want to just go home and take a nap after I’ve been in the lab for days on end. I want to have fun and you look like a lot of fun. In fact, you told me you don’t like to be bored. I hate being bored”.

“You won’t be disappointed” Kevin replied as calmly as possible, squeezing the hell out of his throw pillow as he did so.

“I take it that was a fact, as you’re only allowed to say facts in this game. …or share them. Send me a picture of your sun tattoo”.

“Let me put you on speaker” Kevin said, closing the talk window on his phone and opening the camera. He then slipped off his sunshine yellow tank top and used his left hand to photograph the back of his right shoulder.

Santonio chuckled when he received the message. “Next turn, I’m asking how many”.

“I want a selfie! Right now, don’t change anything”.

“Fair enough”.

Kevin received a photo of Santino in a white lab coat and black button down shirt, top three buttons undone. His Strex name tag was clipped to the front pocket. He was wearing his black glasses. Behind him was a computer showing multiple charts and a shelf of tubes all containing a glowing, yellow liquid.

“You’re doing science”!

“That’s extra. How many tattoos”?

“7”.

“Another odd number. You should get one more or three”.

“Are you working on your medicine”?

“The anti-depressant, yes. I’m waiting for a test to finish running on that computer. Then I can go home. It should stop soon. Thank you for helping me pass the time”.

“I’m never asleep until late. So, feel free to call again. Do you have another question”?

“Will you go out with me, this coming Sunday? My offer still stands to take you wherever you please, but it will have to be in the evening”.

“Sunday is always a good day for me” Kevin replied, cooly. “Vanessa does the show. You can pick me up after the soccer game”.

“How about 7”?

“Not your turn! But I guess I’ll let it slide. 7 is good, I’ll be back at my place by then”.

“Any more questions”?

“Lots, but those can wait until Sunday” Kevin answered. “Goodnight, don’t let the science bite”.

“Goodnight, sunshine. Don’t let Lester bite” Santonio answered, hanging up his phone.

Kevin couldn’t figure out what to do with all his feelings, so he settled on bouncing up and down on his sofa a few times and ordering beer of the month. Lester called soon after and Kevin talked him down from going to Night Vale and asking around for the scout master.

“What would it prove anyway, Les? That there’s a really good with kids gene. Anyway, you freakin hate Night Vale. Ever since that time we played soccer with their team and that one kid kept teleporting the ball away from you”.

* * *

 

During the season, Kevin often watched Lester’s team play ball. The two friends had played soccer together on the same team that Lester now coached. Kevin still had a soft spot for their old colors. Besides, he knew Lester liked the attention. He had no adult family left and he wasn’t really sure who his kid’s mom even was or if she even existed. Lester needed a woman. Kevin wished he’d let him advertise it on the radio. Every single mom in town would be falling all over themselves to get at him, that is if they didn’t find out about some of his less than average evening activities.

Kevin saw Lauren at the Sunday game. He waved at her and she returned the gesture, looking rather uneasy. He shrugged it off as a desire not to mix business and pleasure. However, she seemed to think better of the decision and came over to sit by him later on.

“I heard your friends with the coach” she observed.

“Did you hear me talking about the game on the radio”? He inquired. Kevin liked to promote the team. Especially Lester’s daughter Sonya, who had endeared herself to him by taking up calling him “uncle”.

“I did, yeah. Everyone here listens to the show, so we all figured out about it pretty quick. Childhood friends”?

“Yes, since kindergarten, although he was out of town for a few years”.

“You must hang out a lot then”.

“We go drinking, occasional shopping. Sonya likes me to come to dinner, his kid. She’s number 27.  Did you move to town with the company as well? Want some recommendations for fun? I do a local hotspots segment on my show. I know all the best places”.

“I’ll have to listen to that, for sure. Hey, I heard a funny story the other day. Didn’t you kiss him, Lester at prom”? Kevin laughed at the memory.

“Oh, yeah! It was for our portrait. But honestly, we kiss all the time. It doesn’t mean much of anything romantic”.

“Really? But, and again, you don’t have to answer this, I thought with my boss sending you gifts…”.

“He calls me a friend, too. Honestly, people are too uptight about this kinda stuff. I’m way closer to Lester than I am to him, not that I’m trying to keep him away or anything. I’d very much like to see more of him. He just seems very busy and you can tell his work is a big deal. Say, do you know if he liked that food I sent him? …jeez, look at me! I’m droning on and on” Kevin apologized.

“Not at all, Kevin. May I call you, Kevin”?

“Sure, I’m a radio host after all. Not some hot shot chemist”.

“He did like the food. As matter of fact, I was the one who brought it too him. He doesn’t smile too much, but he smiled at that. Forgive me if I’m being presumptive, but don’t you think he might be more interested in you than he lets on”.

“No. …I mean, yes. But what I’m saying is, we’ve only been on one date and that wasn’t even a real date. It’s fine to call me a friend right now. Again, why get all torn out of shape and sad about it. He’s interesting and nice to me, that’s like all I ever expect out of anyone. Expectation will only make you sad. He’s really honest, so I think he gets all that. He doesn’t want to dress things up as being more or less than they are”.

“I think I understand” she agreed, smiling. “I’ll remember what you said about him. I rather thought he was just cold. But you make a better point”.

“He’s not cold at all, dear. The truth has no temperature, it’s just the truth. Any good reporter knows that”.

Lester’s boys won the game. Kevin cheered on enthusiastically as they did. He noticed the shopper was taking photos.

“Oh, wait till Lester smiles” he encouraged. “He’s male model cute”.

Shortly afterwards, Lester climbed up the bleachers. Kevin knew it was about his regular critique of his friend’s coaching abilities. But he had done so well, that Kevin had nothing to add. So, he just pecked him on the lips and patted him on the back. Lester returned the kiss to Kevin’s cheek. When the radio host looked back around to introduce the shopper, she was already gone.

“How did you meet a Strex shopper, anyway?” Lester inquired.

“That’s a long story, better told later” Kevin promised him.

“Kiss and tell, huh?” Lester teased.

“Oh, you have no idea. But well, I think it will be a better story later. Have you ever not trusted me”?

“All the time” Lester assured him, with a wink. “But hey, I gotta get back to my kids”.

He glared at Kevin as he walked away. Kevin booed him. Sonya waved to him from the crowd of happy children. He gave her thumbs up, before making his way out of soccer field. Lester always made a huge deal out of the kids winning. He would be the at the local pizza shop for hours, loading those kids with enough carbs that a whole week of practice would be required to burn them off. Kevin wished that the shopper had hung around a while longer. He liked her happy, gossipy attitude, even if she was a bit too presumptive.

He had walked a block from the soccer field, when he saw a familiar yellow motorcycle parked on the street corner. The pretty personal shopper was standing by it and none of other than Santonio was standing behind her, looking at the phone she was holding in her hand. It was the same all business, blackberry she’d been using to photograph the game. Kevin thought about stepping out of the way to observe what was happening. But that would have been boring. He slipped his yellow cardigan off, leaning only his tight green tank top on his upper body and leaned against a nearby lamp post. He was positioned so that the minute his new “friend” looked up from the phone, he would be looking right at Kevin and it happened just the way he planned. For a moment, Santonio registered a funny look of shock. But the usual smirk was there soon enough.

“If you wanted to look at pictures of the baseball game, why didn’t you just come with me”?

“You’re dismissed, Lauren” Santonio ordered. The girl quickly took off, but not without shooting a wave at Kevin. “I didn’t so much want to see the baseball game as see you at it”.

“I don’t really get it…but did you like the pictures anyway”?

“Not really, you're confusing my inital hypothesis. I getting ready to pick you up. Did you decide where you want to go”?

“Your place” Kevin answered with a wink.

“Really? Well, You wish is my command. But I can’t promise much of a reception. I brought you a yellow helmet” Santonio replied, producing a half helmet bearing a orange sunshine graphic. Kevin enthusiastically strapped it on his head.

An hour later, Kevin was well situated in the middle of a fluffy, white arm chair that he’d had to pull the plastic and price tag off of to sit on. There were boxes of unpacked things and un-assembled furniture everywhere. Between the messes, he could see bits and pieces of what looked like really nice hardwood floors and modern interior design. He was happily munching on take-out pizza, which he had selected as his good food lesson: number 3.

“Why on earth did you want to come here, doesn’t seem exciting enough for you”. Santonio asked. He sat down on the floor in front of Kevin. 

“It’s very exciting, although I was hoping all the stuff would be out of boxes. I’ve thought of all kinds of questions I would like to ask you and alone seems like the best place, that way we can talk as much as we want. How can you stand to work so much? How is your work going? When will you medicine be done? Where did you get those great shoes? Why are you so interested in Lester because one thing we do not share is dates? Did you think Lester looked hot in those pictures your spy took? Is that why you didn't like them? What do….”

“Slow down! I’m going to need to take notes, but mostly I do want to talk about this Lester and to be blunt, I want to know if you like him more than me”.

“That’s an impossible question! My relationship to the two of you is so very different. Didn’t your spy tell you all that I said” Kevin said, smirking. “Spy’s must be the best! The radio would be so much easier. I have to call the whole world every night and Vanessa isn’t allowed to ease drop on…”

“Please stay on subject, Kevin. I do like your rambling. As a matter of fact, I’ve listened to you in my lab every night” Santonio interrupted him, placing a hand gently on his knee. “But I want to talk about one thing at a time for now, your Lester. She had a pretty passionate picture of you kissing him at..”

“What! You mean at the ball game or prom? None of that is passionate! Geez, after your little joke with Vanessa…”

“Not what I’m talking about” Santonio interrupted him. “Outside you apartment building, not even a full week after I was with you there”.

“We already talked about that…” Kevin began, but the serious look on the other man’s face made him keep going. “Oh! Well, yes I would call that passionate…well a certain kind of passion, anyway. We both have a tendency to sleep around, though. It’s certainly not the first time that I’ve had him up. We don’t send each other romantic gestures though, not like you. See, that’s just one difference. Anyone can sleep around, can’t they? And it is interesting, but not so much as surprises and spies” Kevin explained, clapping his hands together for emphasis. Santonio smiled at him, he then clasped his hand.

“I agree, that does sound more interesting. I would rather you didn't do the less interesting one anymore” said Santonio. His expression was gravely serious and he was looking directly at Kevin's face. The radio host thought he might melt. 

“Wait…but you don’t want me to sleep around? Are you trying to upgrade my title to boyfriend!? But what happened to the “hopefully good friends” speech that you gave me. You’re a slow tease, remember”?

“Of course I do, Kevin” He replied very seriously. He moved to knell between Kevin’s legs, taking the other man’s half eaten slice of pizza and placing it back in the box. He wrapped both his arms around Kevin’s waist. “But I’ve been thinking, and spying, and just listening to the radio for almost three weeks. I think that’s enough research. I’ll call you anything you want me too, as long as I’m the only who touches you. As long as other people can’t just step in because I’m so busy. In fact, why don’t you stay here with me? Help me organize this mess, make it look interesting to you. If you’re here, I’ll be able to spend more time around you. I’ve been so horridly lonely since our conversation at the radio station. I didn’t even know anyone could feel that lonely after just one encounter. I’ve met so many people since I got here and none of them hold a candle to you”.

Kevin was speechless. The whole statement was just the best idea he’d ever heard. It was really nuts, but that would be the best part…except for the one where he was pretty sure Santonio just offered him exclusive rights to touch him.

“Neat” Kevin eventually managed to agree. “I mean, it’s way way more exciting that anything I’ve got going on now! But that means you have to sleep with me, you know that righ…”

Santonio cut off the end of Kevin’s sentence with a very long kiss, curling his hand in the radio host hair and holding him firmly against his own face, until Kevin began to get woozy from breathlessness.

“Oh, I assure you that you will be slept with” He said as he pulled away. “But first we’re going to eat this pizza and go on an actual date to somewhere that is actually exciting, not my completely disorganized apartment”.

“We can do that later!” Kevin whined, grabbing the other man by his yellow tie and dragging him back into the kiss. Santonio shoved him away, roughly.

“Is this how you behave with Lester, before he covers you in scratch marks and fucks you” Santonio snapped. “You will treat me with more respect than this”. Kevin gently wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled his face back close. 

“I don’t even remember most of my last run in with Les” Kevin whispered in Santonio's ear, ridiculously excited by the now obvious jealousy. “I’m going to make sure we both remember this for a very long time”.

Santino, who could have easily stopped Kevin, let him himself be shoved into the floor. He allowed Kevin to straddle him and to wrap his hands tightly in his hair, before going in for long kiss. He even made a light hum of appreciation that ran down Kevin’s spine, like an electric shock. But Kevin knew he had really won when the chemist finally wrapped his arms around his back and let his hands roam under the radio host tank top.

“Don’t disappoint me” Santonio mumbled, angrily. He then flipped Kevin roughly over on his back, before clasping both his hands in his own and pulling them over the radio host head.

“Oh, I won’t” Kevin promised, wrapping a leg possessively around the other man’s.

\---End 3: Fun---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't a lot of connection back to the podcast so far in this story, but it's coming. Also, I'm going to write some whole sex scenes, but this just didn't seem like the right time. Did you like this chapter? Let me know! Thanks again to everyone who left a comment or a kudo.


	4. Taking Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some of that blood, I said was coming....

Lester listened quietly, though his face said a lot of things, as Kevin recounted his fast moving romance with Santonio over brunch and drinks. Kevin had predicted that Lester would be somewhat horrified by the events and even a little jealous. But it was no good keeping Santonio from him now, not when the other man had asked him to make their relationship exclusive. 

“and then he said that he really wanted to spend more time with me, so he hoped I would come live with him. Can you believe it? I’m so excited! I’m already all packed. I mean, a live-in boyfriend! I’ve never even had a year-long boyfriend, not that this one is either, but he realizes how crazy I am and he still wants to live with me! He thinks its fun! This is really special. He’s even given me a pet name. He calls me Sunshine, Les! How cute” Kevin happily wrapped up the tale, making sure to smile real big. Hopefully, that would be enough to show Lester how pleased he was.

Lester took a long drink from his third mug of beer, draining it all the way to the bottom and holding it up for the waitress to refill. That was a lot for him, considering it was barley noon and he had to do Art Club at the community center in a few hours. The waitress dutifully swopped by and took the mug, at which point Lester clasped his hands together in front of him. Along with the solemn expression on his face, Kevin could tell he was about to give him his “You really screwed up on this assignment” tone. At a better time, it would have been a bit of turn on. Now, it annoyed him.

“Well, get on with it” Kevin instructed, sipping his margarita.

“You don’t know this guy” Lester said. “It’s one thing to get physical with strange guys you meet at the club, Kev. I know you can take care of yourself on that front. But you're letting this work-obsessed stranger install you as live-in, just because it fits his schedule better than actually dating you! You're getting your feelings involved and what if he makes you sad, Kev. Are you going to start thinking bad, again? You’ve been drinking rather responsibly lately and you haven’t said anything…”.

“It’s not like that, Les. I just want to play along with him. I didn’t say I was in love with him and for that matter, he just said he really likes me. People stop liking me all the time. I’ll get over it. …But I just have this great feeling right now that I won’t have to”.

“But Kevin, the last time…”

“I know, love. I won’t do that, again. I have you and little Sonya to think of now and you know how much that helps”.

“You have to promise me, Kev” Lester implored. “I didn’t mean to leave you, before…”

“Baby, shush!” Kevin stopped him, holding up his hand in affirmative motion. “I know you don’t remember any of that and you were back just in time and I will never forget that”.

“Kevin, just promise” Lester implored, again. “You know how much I love you”.

“I will never hurt myself again. I couldn’t do that to you, Les. I thought I was alone then and even if this guy is awful to me in the end, how could I hurt you or Sonya”? Kevin promised, taking Lester’s hand for a gentle squeeze. Lester returned the squeeze with a sigh.

“I hope he knows what he has”.

“I think he has a pretty good idea” Kevin affirmed. “He’s not even being all jealous about you, so long as you don’t try anything”. Lester scowled at that.

“As if I ever try anything, Kevin. You do that! Honestly, I kinda glad you have a few boundaries now” Lester said. It was his stern teacher voice again and it hurt Kevin a bit, but he quickly swept it away.

“You need to date more, anyway” he said, coldly. “We both know I’m not your type”.

“Smiling God, Kevin! You don’t have to be so bitchy” Lester snapped back. “Is there even a type for nice teachers with closet fetishes? Where would I look, Craigslist”?

“Let me” Kevin begged.

“Whatever” Lester replied. It was all the affirmation Kevin needed. Lester might be a bit annoyed by his new relationship, but Kevin would make it all better! He had too. He couldn't stand being happy, not when Lester was frustrated.

* * *

 

Kevin spent the next week neatly divided through four diversions: the radio, his new lover, moving, and figuring out which resident of the Bluffs was right for Lester. Of course, most of his time went the radio. The rest of it went to fitting his extensive wardrobe into boxes. However, he had Vanessa making him a definitive list of hot, single women. As for Santonio, when he wasn’t working (which was pretty damn rare), Kevin had him right where he wanted him. This was usually in bed. His productivity was at least 3x the usual. He did so well that he had the apartment all un-packed by the end of the week and station management sent him a special memo to complement his enthusiasm on the show, including a gift card for his favorite coffee shop. Vanessa teased him all week about “happily nesting”. Then it turned out that the end of the week was to bring yet another happy surprise, their first guest as a couple. He was a scientist come to consult with Santonio, someone who was sure to have all sorts of interesting things to say and Kevin could hardly contain his excitement.

“Remember, Kevin” Santonio had instructed before leaving for work, just before dawn. “My consult is coming today. He’s going to have dinner with us, after your show. You’ll no doubt be home before me, make sure you dress nicely and offer him every kindness you can think of. The man’s come a long way and he’ll still have to be on his way in the morning. I enjoy you as is, but we’ll have to behave tonight. I’ll make it up to you later, besides he should have some good conversation anyway”.

Kevin had still been too sleepy to say anything in response, as it was so early. Instead, he propped himself up in bed and pulled his lover in for a short kiss. He ended it in a cruel bite to the lip and then nodded, before burring himself back in the satin sheets, he’d picked out himself. He though he heard Santonio say something about him being cute, before he drifted back off to sleep.

He kept his end of the deal by pre-recording his show in order to make sure he was home in time to greet their guest and dressing in his plainest suit, black with very fine yellow polka dots. He dressed it up with a sunflower necklace. I mean, the consult had agreed to have dinner with Santonio and his boyfriend. Surely, a necklace wouldn’t offend him. Kevin then placed wine to chill, set the table, and ordered good Italian food. Not long after, the doorbell rang. When Kevin opened it, he almost thought his boyfriend had arrived early. Until he realized the hair was just a bit too long and the eyes were not quite the right color. Not to mention that he was wearing a flannel shirt, which Santonio didn’t even own, and a “University of What It Is” name tag bearing the name Carlos.

“Um, I’m Carlos. The consult” The other man said in a voice that was far too light to be Santonio’s, breaking a somewhat awkward silence. He looked extremely nervous. Kevin couldn’t help but lament how he was wasting his good looks on such weak gestures.

“Come in” Kevin recovered quickly. “We are so pleased to have you here. I’ll get you a drink. Say….are you by any chance from Night Vale”? He led Carlos to sit by the window, so that he could look over town and brought him a glass of wine.

“Well, no” Carlos replied, nervously twisting his hands in a way that Santonio would never have. “But it’s funny that you ask. I’m moving to Night Vale, currently. I’m going to do some research on the vast strange happenings there. Night Vale could very well bet the most scientifically interesting community in the United States”.

“I heard that if you stay there too long, you might forget where you come from. I don’t really know because I’ve never been, personally. People do go and never come back, though. Maybe you can find out what all that’s about” Kevin suggested, sitting down across from the scientist.

“Yes, I read about local populations losing people to Night Vale rather regularly. But that it never works the other way. Santonio said you keep up with everything for the radio, haven’t you ever reported anything about someone moving from Night Vale”?

“Nope and It has to be brainwashing or something! This is so much nicer of a city and it’s only fifty miles away! Why would anyone stay in creepy Night Vale, when they could come here and get a job at our amazing new company? They’re investing in everything! They’re even going to upgrade all of the equipment over at the station. It’s going to be great”.

“Aren’t you worried about a corporate monopoly”?

“What’s that”?

“Never mind. After all, your boyfriend works there and your station is benefiting…”

“Say, have you seen a picture of Toni”? Kevin asked, still preoccupied by the similarity of appearance and now its connection to Night Vale and Lester’s doppelganger obsession.

“No, we’ve only spoken in email. Why?” Carlos inquired.

“You’re in for it, then. Has he seen you”?

“In for it? No, I don’t think he has, unless he Googled me or something”.

“I feel like he would have warned me…”

“What about”?

“Nothing, just you’ll see. Anyway, I ordered Italian food. Do you like the wine? Santonio should be back any minute. Oh, I know! I’ll get you some of those blueberries, I bought this morning!" Kevin decided, popping up to his feet and into the kitchen. It was an open kitchen that could be seen from sitting room, so Kevin continued to chat merrily to his guest.

“The fruit market on Friday morning is always the best, since it hasn’t been picked over yet. In the fall, they have the best sunflowers there. Sometimes they even get some of that invisible corn nonsense from Night Vale, you should totally look into that too. But I don’t eat tha….OH NO”! Kevin cut off.

The radio host was frozen in terror. He’d been trying to cut off the top of the plastic container of blueberries, when his hand had slipped and he stabbed the chef’s knife directly into the back of his left hand. He could feel the point coming out the other side and the blood was already pooling out from under it. He was shaking violently and he could feel vomit pooling in the back of his throat. Carlos had jumped to his feet and gripped Kevin’s left forearm, so that he couldn't jerk it away.

“Just stay still, you could lose a lot of blood” The scientist cooly instructed, taking on a completely different attitude than that of the nervous house guest of only moments ago.

With his other hand, he was dialing  911 on his phone. Kevin’s vision was going dark and he wanted to explain to the scientist that he was going to faint, beg him to bring Lester. But then his mouth was sealed as if he’s never even had one. The blood was dripping off the edge of the counter now. In a desperate move to get away from the knife, he lurched his whole body forward and ripped it out with his other hand. It caused more bleeding, but it fixed his speech problem as he began to scream at the top of his lungs. Carlos grabbed him round the waist to hold him in place. He was speaking frantically into the phone, but Kevin couldn’t focus enough to understand him. Everything was getting dim at the edges and it was as if the scream had taken all the air out of the room. He gasped and gasped, but he couldn’t feel anything in his lungs.  His whole hand was dripping in blood. It was rolling down the inside of his sleeve. He couldn’t help it anymore, he vomited in the floor.

Carlos let him go. When he looked up, The scientist was shuffling through the cabinets. He came back with a thick dishrag and a paper bag. Quickly, he wound the rag around Kevin’s hand and tied it. He then held the paper bag up to his face. It took a few minutes of watching his lips move, before Kevin understood the order to breath in the bag. He did what he was told, closing his eyes. Slowly, he began to feel the air coming back.

He opened his eyes again, when he felt a familiar hand on his face. Santonio was kneeling in front of him, completely disregarding the disgusting floor, a look of heartbreaking concern on his face. Kevin started crying. He threw himself at the other man, burying his face in his neck. He felt safe and allowed consciousness to slip away.

Sometime later, he woke up neatly wrapped in bed wearing his favorite butterscotch yellow, night shirt. The lights were off, but the door was cracked to the other room and he could hear voices. Sonya was saying something and Lester answered her. Just then, Vanessa peaked around the door. When she noticed his eyes were open, her worried expression blossomed into a smile. She was carrying a glass of water and small cup with three tablets inside.

“For your pain” she explained, offering it to him. “Dr. Hot Stuff’s orders. I’ll have to go tell them all you’re awake. Okay if I let them all in, boss”? Kevin took the pills and chugged the water. Only then did he get a good look at the bandage wrapped around his palm. There wasn’t spot of blood on it. Kevin was glad, even the tiniest drop would have been enough to bring the medicine back up. For a moment he thought back to before, what Lester referred to as “last time”. But he quickly shoved it away, choosing to hug Vanessa instead.

“You’re such a good intern”!

“Awww, boss. You’ll be just fine” she responded, patting him on the back and kissing him on the cheek. “It was just an accident, happens to us all. Let me call in the cheer party”!

He nodded, offering a weak smile. Vanessa opened the door and waved in the others. It couldn’t have even been five seconds before Sonya was up in the bed with him, tiny arms wrapped around his neck.  Lester took his arm and examined the bandages. Santonio leaned against the wall in the back along with Lauren, whom was holding a bright yellow balloon tied to a teddy bear. Carlos stuck to the doorway. At sight of the scientist, Kevin suddenly remembered he was supposed to have been a good host.

“I hope I didn’t destroy your consult” Kevin said, solemnly. A dark depression was eating at the outside of his mind. He needed a drink. _Wait until they leave_ he reminded himself.

“Nonsense!” Carlos quickly corrected him. “It wasn’t done on purpose and besides, I got the information I needed while you were asleep. In fact, I was sticking around to make sure you recovered. I think I’ll be on my way now. Be easy on you hand, Kevin. I’ll look into the corn and send you some info for your show”.

“Thank you, Carlos” Kevin said, weakly. The scientist left. Kevin could tell by the look on Lester’s face that he could sense the negative undertones in his voice.

“I’m glad uncle is feeling better” Sonya chimed in.

“It’s because you’re here” Kevin promised her and that was true, even if he still felt like shit underneath.

Once everyone was gone, Santonio crawled into bed beside him. His work wear had been lost somewhere in the chaos and now he wore a soft grey T-shirt and matching sweat pants. He pulled Kevin into his arms, so that the radio host's head was lying on his chest. Kevin went along with, even if he really just wanted to lock himself in the bathroom and cry with a bottle of tequila. He’d fucked up and everyone had seen it. Lester would worry more now. Vanessa knew something was wrong now. Santonio knew something was wrong and nothing about today had been the “fun” he said he so admired in Kevin. He might not want to deal with someone like this on top of all the stress at his job. 

“Sorry, Toni” Kevin mumbled, bunching his hands into the soft grey fabric of the shirt. Santonio’s relaxed posture went rigid at the statement. Kevin was afraid to look at his face. Surely, he would look angry and not in the sexy way, but the “I didn't sign up for this way”. He should have listened to Lester. He shouldn’t have committed to this so fast.

“Why would you say that”? Santonio asked, calmly.

“I covered your apartment in blood and vomit and freaked your consult out, all because I can’t handle a damn kitchen knife properly” Kevin mumbled, tears welling in his eyes.

“It’s true that you did make a mess in _our_ apartment and that Carlos was concerned by it. But you didn’t intentionally do any of that. There’s nothing to apologize for, it makes no sense to. You should know that as a doctor, I won't tolerate nonsensical groveling”. 

“You’re not angry”?

“I’ve not been angry at all, mostly I was scared. When I came through the door, you looked like you were dying. I’ve only just met you and it seems I have a lot to learn. I forgot to ask you if the blood thing was a phobia on the phone. I was foolish not to figure that out. If we’re going to take care of each other, I have to know these things” Santonio explained, stroking Kevin’s messy hair behind his ear. “Lester was horrified when he found out you’d been bleeding. He started rambling about how you’d almost been killed, while he was away….I won’t describe it. But I know now”.

“Why aren’t I in the hospital?” Kevin asked, changing the subject, before he remembered all the blood. _I should be on suicide watch_ he added mentally.

“I fixed it before they got here. I might focus on medicines, but I learned first aid like any other med student. …are there other things I should know about”?

“That’s the worse one” Kevin explained. “I don’t like spiders. I used too….I do drink too much. I don’t have a family. But the blood one, that’s the only one that matters. Lester made up for the family and he helped a lot with the drinking too”. _And the trying to bleed myself out because I was on bad drugs._

“The spiders aren’t a phobia”? Santonio inquired, running his hand over Kevin’s back.

“Nah, just nasty” Kevin explained. Santonio laughed a little at that and Kevin couldn’t help but smile at the sound. He loved to make people laugh. He asked people to let him know if he was funny on the radio.

“I don’t like mushrooms” Santonio explained. “I don’t like living alone, either. Labs are so impersonal and empty homes are too. I have a family, but I don’t like them much. I don’t have any phobias. I do have diabetes, but I’m pretty good at keeping up with that on my own”.

“I bought three types of cupcakes this week” Kevin groaned, but he couldn't help giggling.

“I didn’t eat too many”.

“I am sorry. I really wanted to impress you by being a good host” Kevin mumbled. But he didn’t really feel it anymore. He felt all warm and fuzzy inside. He was running his hands under Santonio’s T-shirt now, feeling the skin there.

“I don’t want you to impress me. Just do what you want. I have interns, assistants, team members, even damn company board members looking to impress me every day and expecting to be impressed. I just want us to be happy together, Sunshine” Santonio explained. 

His voice was like warm coffee. Kevin crawled into his lap and pressed his lips to his cheek, then the corner of his eye, then his mouth. He was filled with an over-whelming feeling that everything was wonderful…kind of like being on drugs.

“Did you give me drugs”? Kevin asked, not particularly concerned about it as much as he was curious. Santonio smirked in response.

“I did” the chemist professed. “Sadness affects you pretty profoundly, your hand had to have been in pain, and you just had a phobic meltdown. Those are all things my drug can treat. But, don’t worry. It’s not the mysterious glowly test tube drug. It’s the one that I had already formulated before I even started working here, the work that drew the company's’ attention to me. It won’t impair your judgement, just improve your mood, keep things for getting out of balance”.

“Wow! You did a really good job”! Kevin complemented, giggling. He went in for another kiss. “Ohmygod! I forgot. That guy looks just like you! Well, not really. But a lot …and Lester saw him”!

“Lester did look concerned. I wonder where the person who looks like you is?” Santonio inquired.

“What you think that’s it really a doppelganger thing”!?

“Not at all, Sunshine” Santonio answered, gently rubbing his hand against the sun tattoo on Kevin’s ribcage. “I was only joking. Carlos just had some similar genes to mine and really, considering the close proximity, Lester probably just saw a long lost cousin or something”.

“Yeah, but it’s weird that you both saw someone like that” Kevin noted.

“I’ll give you that” Santonio agreed.

He pulled the radio host in for another kiss, pulling him tightly against his chest. Kevin ran his hands through the other man’s hair, over his shoulders, down his sides, all the while never breaking the kiss. He was giddy on the high of positive emotions and sweet words. He wanted to drag this moment out for days and Santonio seemed to wordlessly understand. He rolled Kevin over so that he was laying comfortably on the bed, even taking the time to prop a pillow behind his head, before he slipped off his sleep shirt and peppered his entire body in sweet little kisses. He lingered particularly long over Kevin’s bandaged hand, cradling it in both of his own. Every movement seemed to say “It’s okay”, “I don’t mind at all”, and maybe even “love”. But Kevin was going to hold off thinking about that last one as long as possible. Loving people had never gone well for him. Instead, he thought of the strong hand working below his waistline and the soft lips on his neck, then on his dick. He thought of the beautiful body rocking slowly into him, gasping in pleasure, saying his name like it was something really special. Maybe it wasn't love yet, but he couldn’t help but think that it could be and that maybe he could be okay with that and that he was definitely okay right now.  

\---end 4---

Taking Care


	5. Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin puts his new mentality to some pretty creative test. 
> 
> BE WARNED: This chapter contains some pretty crazy sexual stuff. It may not be to your taste and it will be violent.

The weeks after the incident with Carlos were a whole new kind of wonderful for Kevin. The radio host just couldn’t believe how talented it turned out that his Santonio really was. Sure, he known that he must be something. But now that he was actually using the drugs that the other man had formulated, he was amazed by their potency. His thoughts were so clear and non-painful now, not bogging him down at all. Without all that weight, accomplishing his daily task was so much easier. In fact, he could do things he hadn’t even been able to do before. If he wanted to eat meat, he could actually cook it himself. The blood meant nothing to him. When Vanessa cut her palm with a letter opener, during the show, he was able to keep talking to the listeners while he wrapped it in a bandage. To so suddenly, so easily, overcome something that had been so hurtful to him in the past made him feel very powerful and this new sense of power improved all the areas of his life. He was a bolder man and aimed to test his limits. 

Santonio held his hand underneath the reading lamp on his desk. They sat side by side, their shoulders touching. In the bright light, the cuts looked angrier than they had, when he had been dragging the steak knife across the top of his skin. The neat grid upon the back of his left hand almost seemed to glow. Kevin didn’t like the look on the doctor’s face. It looked too much like fear. It made him think of other people who he had ultimately frightened too much, like his mother and his sister.

“This didn’t hurt you enough that you wanted to stop” Santonio inquired, looking Kevin directly in the eyes.

“I hardly felt it. I thought it would hurt more”.

“It should have. I’m going to dial back the amount of pain reducer that you receive” Santonio explained, rubbing his thumb across an un-cut patch of skin.

“What! But won’t that make it stop working”? Kevin asked, horrified.

“No, Sunshine. You just need to have enough of a sense of pain, so as not to hurt yourself. I’m sorry. This is my mistake” Santonio said, almost whispering. He didn’t look at Kevin and his brows were wrinkled with worry. Kevin couldn’t stand looking at it, it was the weakest he’d ever seen him. He reminded him suddenly of timid Carlos.

“Surely all inventive people make little mistakes” Kevin encouraged, gripping the other man’s hand in both of his. He expected the tightness of this grip to hurt his hand, yet he felt nothing, even as blood trickled out of it and Santonio watched the trail with his eyes. “You cured my phobia, that wasn’t a mistake! Toni, I’ve never been so okay in my life. I feel sooooo good! Actually, that gives me an idea”.

Kevin crawled out of his own chair into Santonio’s lap. He wrapped his hands around Santonio’s face and the doctor made a move to shift away from him. But Kevin only took that as a challenge, gripping tightly into his hair and jerking his head forward, the radio host other hand gripping just tightly enough around the back of Santonio's neck, making it so that doctor would have to try much harder to escape.

“Darling, are you trying to compensate for my concern?” Santonio inquired, testing Kevin’s grip on his neck with a weak attempt to shake his head, his pupils growing larger. “This is a completely unacceptable way….”

“I’m trying to eliminate your concern” Kevin interrupted. He pressed their heads together and Santonio closed his eyes, releasing a deep sigh. Kevin had learned to associate this sigh with winning.

“I’ll never not be concerned for you Kevin. Bad things are happening all the time and I want to protect you. You make me so happy and I just….” The doctor tried explain, whispering into Kevin’s lips. He was cut off by the radio host biting down hard on his own.

Kevin felt the skin break, tasted the red liquid that was another person’s life on his tongue, this beautiful person’s life. Santonio’s moan was absolutely perfect. He suddenly understood where Lester got off on this kind of power. Maybe he didn’t want sex to be just about him being doted on anymore, maybe he wanted that power too. He wasn’t sure how beautiful, demanding, always in control Santonio would take that. He just knew he wasn’t going to hate anything that involved a lot of sexual gratification and that was what he was about to get.

Kevin swiped his tongue across Santonio’s bottom lip, coating it in blood and thrusted it into the other man’s mouth, still holding his head tightly in place. Santonio met it, his hands were inside Kevin's sweatshirt, his nails digging into Kevin’s back. They slid lower, squeezing his ass. Kevin jerked sideways as hard as he could, knocking their chair backwards, so that Santonio was forced to take the full impact of the fall. His head bounced in a way that Kevin was sure was highly unpleasant.

The radio host took his hands away from the other man’s head, crossed his arms across his chest, and looked down, smiling, from where he sat upright on his lover's abdomen. The doctor glared at him, though his pupils were still highly dilated, before smacking him harshly across the face. Kevin’s entire head whipped around, the sting bringing water to his eyes and adrenaline to his veins. He wasted no time covering Santonio with his body, pulling his head back harshly by his hair, reveling the full length of his neck, and dragging his fingernails down the side of the beautiful skin. Santonio cried out so harshly that Kevin might have feared he’d hurt him too much, if he hadn’t thrusted his extremely hard dick against Kevin’s mid-section at the same time.

When Santonio opened his eyes to look up at Kevin, there was rage there the he had never seen in him. The doctor grabbed him by his hair and jerked him off of him, pulling them both out of the floor into a standing position. Kevin hardly felt it, though he knew some of his follicles had been jerked loose from his scalp. Santonio then threw Kevin across his desk with enough force that he bounced against it. He smacked him again, against the other side of his face. Kevin kicked him in the leg, causing him to stagger backwards. The doctor responded by whipping a pin knife out of his pants pocket, holding Kevin down with one fist and cutting off his sweatshirt with the other. Kevin really liked the shirt, but not nearly as much as he liked the vicious look in his lover’s gaze.

That done, Santonio surprised Kevin even more by cutting a quick line across the other man’s chest. So quick and without depth, Kevin hardly knew it had happened until he looked down and saw the blood running down his torso. Santonio rubbed his hand slowly through it, still holding Kevin down, and then licked it off his own fingers, never breaking eye contact with the radio host. Kevin lunged against the hand holding his down, longing to pull Santonio down too him. The doctor held fast.

“This is not okay, Kevin!” Santonio shouted. “You should be in a lot of pain. Don’t you get why that’s necessary!? This is affecting you too profoundly. Something must be done about this! What have I done? What am I doing”?

Kevin thought the other man might cry. He could feel his arm shaking against his body. He tested his restraints, again. This time Santonio gave way. Kevin pealed the knife from his hand and swiped it just as Santonio had, ripping through the soft fabric of the doctor's t-shirt, creating a similar line across the other man’s chest. Santonio moaned, loudly. Then he sank to the ground, burying his hands in his hair, closing his eyes.

“I have no idea what to do with you” Santonio sighed.

Kevin dropped off the desk in front of him, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and was allowed to pull it over his head with little effort. He pulled their chest together, their blood mixing. Kevin kissed him and Santonio kissed him back, painfully slow, as if he could go on doing it forever. But Kevin had other ideas. He could still feel the other man’s hardness through his jeans and his own was growing more and more unbearable by the second. He slipped his hand between them, while Santonio remained intent on their kiss, slipping down their pants and bringing their members together for the few quick thrust needed. They gasp into each other’s mouths as they came. Kevin could feel the tears rolling down Santonio’s face.

The doctor picked Kevin up and carried him to the bath. He filled it with the bubbly soap that Kevin liked. He then placed Kevin in the tub, along with himself, and scrubbed every drop of blood and sex from both of their bodies. Kevin was too boneless to do anything but lie against him.

“You have to let me care for you, Kevin” Santonio insisted and Kevin did not argue.

The next morning Santonio woke Kevin, before he left for the lab. All of Kevin’s injuries hurt a little then, particularly his hand, which seemed to throb with every heartbeat. It was still dark outside. The doctor was dressed in a black turtle neck, no doubt to hide the previous evening’s marks. He wore Kevin's sunflower pin above his heart. Kevin was so thirsty and was pleased to see that Santonio had brought him a glass of ice water.

“You can’t go out with your face so bruised” Santonio explained, running his hands through Kevin’s hair. “I’m sorry I did it. I wanted to prove to you that it would hurt. I wanted to show you that things were not okay. I…”

“I liked it, Toni. I would do it, Again” Kevin quickly assured him.

“I won’t be doing anything like that, again, Kevin” Santonio assured him, wearing the same worried expression as the night before. “I will be changing how I do a lot of things. Please, stay here until I come back. I’ll be quick, today”.

“I have to do the radio, Toni”.

“Vanessa will do it. I already called. Sleep” Santonio instructed. He then kissed Kevin and left, leaving no room for argument. 

* * *

 

A week later, Kevin carried his shopping bags into work with him, dropping them unceremoniously by his desk. He’d taken his newly crafted medication that morning and despite feeling no different than he had for the past few days, he couldn’t help but fear a drop would be coming for him soon. It didn’t matter that Santonio assured him that there would be no drops. He thought about calling Santonio at work and asking if he was absolutely sure about these changes again, but he knew Toni wouldn’t come to the phone, unless he called Lauren and told her it was and emergency. He did need to talk to Lauren, but he wanted to do that in person. Regardless, he didn’t have time to do any of that. He had the show in less than an hour. He needed to read over his lines, again. But all he could think about was what would happen if his emotions dropped from their new heights on air. Sure, he didn’t feel like they were going too. But it was a possibility and he had to be sure. He absolutely couldn’t be compromised on air, especially not during something as important as the sandstorm report.  It would ruin him!

He shoved his hand into the grocery bag closet to him, thinking it contained chocolate covered pretzels, that he was hoping to stress eat. Instead, he touched cold, slick plastic, which sagged beneath his fingers, making a grotesque squelching sound.

 _“Venison”_ he remembered. “ _That would work….Santonio said that I wasn’t to test myself anymore, though. He said things like that should be done with supervision, If I must do them. But the show, nothing is more important than not screwing up my show. The show is all I had after my mother and Lester….I have to know”!_

He carried the bag with him to the recording studio, locking the door behind him, flipping the do not disturb sign around to face the hall beyond, and pulling the blinds. Then he sent Vanessa a text message, telling her that she would best serve him today by staying in her office and using all the means available to her to keep him updated on the storm via text. He sent another inviting her to eat dinner with himself and Lauren, later that evening. He hoped the invitation would soothe any hurt feelings about being excluded from being in the booth, while also offering him some moral support with Lauren, as he tried to sell her on Lester.

Once all that was take care of, he had thirty minutes until show time. He’d bought three packs of venison, as there had been a great sale. He took Santonio’s pen knife from his blazer pocket and sliced all of them wide open, allowing the blood scent to permeate the room and just looked at the raw bloody meat. He then unceremoniously ripped it to chunks with his own hands and threw it all over the studio walls, until it looked rather like the set of one of those cheap slasher movies, laughing as he did so. He felt nothing, but exhilaration. He was now sure he would be able to do the show and that by extension, all was right with the world.

He dropped the empty meat packets into his trash can, washed his hands with a profuse amount of hand sanitizer, and dried them on his coat. He then read over his notes, texted everyone in his contacts a friendly reminder about the sandstorm, and reviewed the information that Vanessa had already sent him. Then the time had, once again, come for him to commune with Desert Bluffs. He flipped on the on-air light, smiling as he only did for the listeners.

\---end 5: Testing.---

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this right after it was posted, the next chapter will also appear shortly. 
> 
> I would say I was sorry, but I'm not. 
> 
> IF YOU SEE A TYPO, DO NOT LET THAT LITTLE BASTARD ESCAPE! THEY MUST ALL BE RE-EDUCATED!!! My first draft of editing got erased by an unexpected computer shut down and now I fear things might be a little messier than I would like. Geez, getting fics ready to post is harder than writing them. 
> 
> I got distracted by some other writing projects. But I still want to finish my fic about non-evil Kevin. This fandom really needs more of that. I’m setting the goal of updating at least once a month, on the 20th. But I’ll most likely do better than that. After all, I have two whole chapters this time :)
> 
> As always, I WOULD BE REALLY FREAKING EXCITED TO HEAR FROM YOU. Stay weird, my friends in fandom.


	6. The Sandstorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How our friends in Desert Bluffs handle the sandstorm. 
> 
> Carlos is in this chapter!

Kevin sat curled up in the middle of the sofa, nursing a glass of gin. There were claw marks on his arms, a large bruise wrapped around the front of his neck. His eyeliner was runny and he was nursing a new jealously. He found it all rather amusing. Probably because it turned out that Santonio’s anti-depressants mixed extra good with liquor. He could tell the doctor was disapproving of his current state. But he knew he wouldn’t fight him about it, particularly not in company. He would just be satisfied that Kevin looked happy. Besides Kevin had only taken a normal dose and with a day like he’d had, a drink or five was absolutely called for.

Lester had fared even worse during the sandstorm, apparently. Kevin watched his old friend, where he lay across the kitchen table in front of Santonio. The doctor was stitching up a gaping cut in coach’s forearm. He’d just done smaller ones on his forehead, back, and thigh. His daughter Sonya was staring at the process with great interest. Both of the Vanessa’s were playing Nintendo on the flat screen TV, the second one agreeing to let Kevin call her Vicky. Lauren had fallen asleep working on her I-Pad. She was wearing one of Santonio’s college sweaters in the place of the shirt she’d earlier ripped. It fit her like a short dress, her pencil skirt actually looking quite cute with it. Kevin wondered when Santonio was going to let her go home. He thought it was sweet, how the doctor had taken to looking after her. He seemed to be the type who needed to have people to take care of. Which Kevin was grateful for, considering his own life was a hot mess. 

“How the hell did you manage this?” Santino asked, nodding towards Lester’s back. The doctor’s usually immaculate hair was full of sand. Kevin wondered if he would let him try to pick out the little pieces. It would be an excuse to keep the other man away from his work for a few moments. After the high emotions of the past days, Santonio seemed to be finding extra hours of the day to throw into his work. When he wasn’t working, he was always with Kevin. He seemed to never be anywhere else.

“I’m pretty sure my double is an ax murder” Lester explained. He sounded exhausted. Kevin was glad he’d talked the coach into letting Toni treat him. It would have been ridiculous trying to get into a doctor's office after today and everyone was having trouble changing their insurance over to the new Strex approved stuff, since they had bought the hospital.

“So, he was really the scout master from Night Vale?” Kevin inquired.

“He wearing the uniform”.

“Tell me all about it!” Kevin begged.

Lester sighed, but then he nodded. “Okay, so my earliest class on Wednesday isn’t til 2. I took Sonya to school and then I went on to the high school to grade the senior’s art projects. I got really absorbed in it, trying to offer lots of feedback. I like these kids, they’ve all take art for the last four years. Time got away. I didn’t check my phone and I didn’t get your text message about how you were going to do the special, noon weather broadcast. I got hungry at eleven and went Big Papa’s Italian for a meatball sub…”

“Ewww” Sonya commented. Lester affectionately bopped her on the head with his free hand. 

“I agree” Kevin added. Santino laughed and Kevin noted the way his eyes crinkled at the edges and how that made him feel extra warm inside and how he wasn’t emotionally prepared to love someone, even if they might really be as crazy as him. He decided not to think too hard about it.

“I like meatballs” Vanessa added.

“Ewww” Vicky commented, “I guess we’re not exact copies after all”.

“Would anyone else like to make a comment on my lunch, or can I get to the ax murder section of my story”? Lester asked, crossly.

“I think you can go on” Santonio suggested, not looking up from his stitching “I would like to hear everyone’s stories. Perhaps, then we can begin to make some sense of this”.

“Hopefully,” Lester agreed. “Anyway, as soon as I got in my car and started down the road, the sand picked up. I know that you can’t drive in the sandstorm, according to city law, so I looked for a place to pull off the road and tried to tune into Kevin’s station. But my trucks old receiver just wasn’t up to it. All I got was popping and cracking. I tried my phone too, which is when I got Kevin’s message. But there wasn’t even one little bar of service and I couldn’t find any Wi-Fi. So, I just had to wait it out”.

“For about ten minutes it was really, really quiet. Then it was loud as hell, all I could hear was people screaming and metal crunching. I was looking round for the source of it all, when this big two-tone Chevy just pile drives into the back of my truck.  The dude behind the wheel is me with freckles and a scout uniform, only he looks furious! Before I can even register my shock, he pulling a freaking woodcutting ax out his backseat and taking it my driver’s side window. I quickly rolled to the other side of the cab and shoved out the door, grabbing my tire iron to use as a weapon”.

“About this time, the sand lets up a bit and I can see that there are tons of these mini battles going on all around the roadway, which isn’t even downtown anymore! There’s a chant in the air. It takes me a second to register that it’s “Kill your double”. This is all the time the dude with the ax needs to round the car and I try to slam him with my tire iron. But he’s obviously had more experience in hand to hand combat than I have, because he steps out of my reach and could have easily split my head open with is ax, if I hadn’t jumped back. Still, he got me enough to sting and get blood in my eyes. I tried to whack him again, but that time he got my thigh. It was excruciating, but it fed my rage and I came at him really fast. I caught his arm and he screamed a little bit. I tried to get him in the back, but ended up exposing my own. I almost caved there, when he caught me at my waist, but I managed to smack him in the stomach with my iron, knocking him down for minute. He dropped his ax. I jumped on him, thinking I had him now, but he pulled a switchblade out of his hiking boot. Stuck it deep in arm, started pulling at it, trying to cut my artery”.

“Then all of a sudden the sand was gone and he was gone and I was lying on the sidewalk, his knife still in my arm. I crawled over to my phone, still in my cab, and called Kevin to help me. He called Doc here” Lester finished, shrugging and then letting out a gasp of pain. Sonya squeezed Lester’s hand and he returned the gesture. Kevin could’ve melted from the cuteness.

“You’ll want to refrain from moving your back muscles like that” Santino cautioned. “Hold very still. That you remained standing after such a blow is impressive”.

“Yeah, thanks” Lester said, bashfully. His face glowing red. He was practically naked, stripped down to his boxers and Kevin couldn’t help but be amused by how sensitive he was about Toni seeing him this way. It brought to mind some pretty sordid fantasies.

“That so silly of your double” Kevin commented, waving his hand playfully. “Why wouldn’t they want your help to be more productive”? He giggled after he said it, taking another long drink, willing himself not to think about what he would do if Lester had died. "I mean, look at our lovely Vanessa and Vicky". 

“Interesting that you say that, Sunshine” Santonio commented. “My double was very helpful”.

“At least someone’s was” Lester sighed.

“Mine was an absolute freak” Kevin added. “Tell us about yours Toni, was it the scientist”?

“You are absolutely right, darling. It was Carlos and he had a lot of clever ideas about the storm. Would you like to hear about them, but you must promise me that you will say none of it on the radio. He’s asked me to keep his relationship with us a secret, seems to think it will upset some new friend of his” Santonio answered.

“I won’t say a word, but you know that. I keep all of your Strex secrets, don’t I”?

“Yes, Kevin. You do wonderfully in everything I ask you too”.

“I’m going to gag” Vanessa interrupted, sticking her finger inside her mouth, as if to make herself throw up.

“On this, we can agree” Vicky added.

“Shut up and let him tell the story” Lester suggested, glaring a Kevin and the girls. Kevin gave him the finger.

“Very well then” Santonio began. “I went to was in the lab at 7 am this morning, as usual. Nothing particularly interesting happened before noon, except that one of those god-awful Strex pet prototypes ate Lauren’s shoe. We tuned in to the radio on at noon, like you asked us too, to hear about the sandstorm. Then, as if right on cue, a whole bunch of extra scientist fall out of our broom closet, including our friend Carlos”.

“As if that wasn’t intriguing enough,” Santonio went on, still stitching Lester’s arm. “It wasn’t our lab at all anymore. It was smaller, more outdated set-up, though it was all around in good order and judging from the worn floor tiles and wide windows up front, used to be a super market. We could see the sandstorm raging quite fiercely through these windows. I was then sitting at a table, by a radio that had been duck tapped together and appeared to have some hair growing out of its tape deck. Lauren sat beside me and this radio was also reporting on the sandstorm, though it wasn’t Kevin, it was another person entirely. Such a cold radio personality, this person had, and such a cynical way of looking at things. I missed you voice terribly, Sunshine. But I didn’t get much time to think about this voice, as one of my lab techs jumped on one of Carlos’s immediately. Carlos didn’t seem to know what to do about this situation. So, I had Lauren use her employee discipline tazer on…”

“You just had Lauren taze someone!” Lester interrupted.

“He could have really hurt that other guy” Lauren commented, sleepily. “Besides, we never use them to boost productivity like it says to in the handbook…well, I did use it to wake that one guy up who fell asleep, but I barely poked him and it was so funny”!

“I completely supported that decision” Santonio commented. “I don’t need lab techs who can’t even work a twelve hour shift. The march of science waits for no man. Besides, it not like Lauren is using a voltage that could damage anyone or using it as punishment for making bad copies, like we heard the CEO did the other day. That fool of tech had the audacity to rip Lauren’s top. He’s lucky he still has a job”. 

“No one is going to taze you at work are they!?” Kevin asked, concerned. He thought it was a  ridiculous notion, the worst station management had ever done was revoke the free coffee in the break room, that time that he had gossiped unhappily on air. That had been justified, he knew better than to infect the people of Desert Bluffs with unhappy emotions.

“No, Sunshine. I have them in the palm of my hand. Remind me to have them fix Lester’s health insurance” Santonio replied, cooly. Kevin loved that tone. It made him think of games that were better not thought of in company. He was definitely keeping him in the apartment for a few days after this and by the apartment he meant in bed.

“Now, where was I. Ah yes, Lauren tazed the ill-behaved lab tech and I promised anyone else who dared start something the same treatment. After that, everything went rather productively. Carlos explained that he thinks the sandstorm may have something to do with the temporal anomaly surrounding a house that is there, but cannot be seen to be there. He thinks it may be the same kind of anomaly that allowed me to have never left my lab, but to still be in Night Vale at his lab. In his theory, our fair city and the city of Night Vale are on two ends of see-saw, a figurative one, of course. This see-saw must remain balanced at all times, down to the smallest of things. For example, when I moved here and then Carlos moved there. Carlos thinks that the sandstorm is an event that occurred to keep balance. The urge kill is a product of there being too much unevenness. There’s something in one place that is not in the other. What happened to Lester, seems to match up to that as well. Of course this is all theory and I’m in no way qualified to discuss dimensional theory, I am a doctor and a chemist”.

“But why the house that is there, but isn’t there…and what does that even mean?” Lester asked.

“Carlos believes the house is the balancing point of the see-saw, since it manages to exist in two places at once and do so all the time. But he can’t get anyone to ring the doorbell and find out if the other place is here or not” Santonio explained. “The people of Night Vale are extremely careful. It appears that the balance has shifted in our favor on this see-saw. Whereas we barely even have bad weather, a lot of strange things happen over there. Carlos said that just since he’s moved in, he’s discovered that the clocks do not work properly, the sun doesn’t seem to set at the right time, there’s this glowing cloud that spews dead animals (perhaps, the same cloud that Kevin said was sighted in the desert), there seem to be some actual angels with wings living in the trailer park, that house that is and isn’t there, and that the invisible corn you were talking about is in fact a real, eatable vegetable. He was going to tell me more, but we ran out of time. I know it all sounds ridiculous. But so was everything that happened, today”.

“I sent him an email, asking him to continue our chat. But there is one more interesting thing I found out about Carlos, the scientist, on my unscheduled trip to Night Vale. I think it’s a thing which is very supportive of his balance theory. You all will be very amused by this” Santonio promised, wrapping up Lester’s stitches, wiping his hands on a towel, and walking over to the sink to disinfect himself.

“I’ll do your bandages, once my hands are clean” The doctor added, indicating Lester.

“Spews dead animals, what the hell does that mean ?” Lester asked.

“He seemed quite serious” Santonio answered.

“He did” agreed Lauren, now fully awake and sipping on a cup of coffee that Kevin had fetched her during the story. “I couldn’t help but trust him and his entire team agreed with everything he said, throwing in details of their own. Especially about that amusing bit, Toni was talking about”.

“You cannot call me Toni”.

“Why not ?” Lauren pouted.

“You’re not sucking his dick” Kevin suggested, now five drinks in. He wanted to look suspicious, but he immediately burst into laughter. Lauren and both Vanessa’s quickly followed.

“It’s true” Santonio agreed, smirking devilishly.

“MY. KID. IS. HERE.” Lester snapped. But Sonya was laughing too. He frowned at her and she stopped abruptly. 

“What’s the really interesting bit?” Kevin asked, once his own laughter had subsided.

“Oh, that” Santonio answered. He was seated back at the table, wrapping thick white bandages around Lester’s arm. “Carlos says that the local radio host, Cecil Palmer, perhaps the man you meet today, claims to be madly in love with him. Not even a day after her came to town, the man was talking about it on the radio and he hasn’t stopped, though he and Carlos have hardly had any long conversations. He has no idea what to do with the attention or the sudden affection, he was so flustered talking about it. His face was tomato red. Then it got even worse, when I informed him that I dealt with that issue by …” he paused, glancing at Sonya. “having my local radio come play in the living room floor”. Sonya immediately laughed, indicating his deflection attempt had failed.

“Ooooooh” Vanessa cooed, winking at Kevin.

“You have to be kidding” Lester noted.

“I have little to no sense of humor, you know this Lester” Santonio noted. He had moved on to wrapping Lester’s middle.

“Play in the floor” Vicky repeated, before breaking down into a cackle. Vanessa followed.

“That awful creature with dear Carlos, how sad” Kevin commented. But he wasn't thinking he was awful at all. He was thinking he was beautiful and had voice that made every hair on Kevin’s body stand on end.

“Was he really all that terrible, the man you met ?" Lauren inquired. She sat up straight in her chair, ankles neatly crossed, looking sophisticated, despite her unusually ruffled appearance. Some of her red lipstick had left a smudge on the edge of her coffee cup, which she held carefully with both hands.

“Yes!” Kevin exclaimed “and the worse part was that he reminded me so much of myself”.

“Then how could he have been so bad, was it just the physical” Santonio suggested.

“Well, yes. But no. His eyes seemed so different and he was so full of negative emotions and when I tried to touch him, he just lost it. His studio was so darkly colored and the town outside was so small and dull…It all just seemed so wrong”. He remembered the feelings and yet he couldn’t feel them anymore. It all seemed like a bad dream of unusual proportions. Kevin was glad he couldn’t feel it. Kevin was glad at least his town and his boyfriend were better.

“and you too just had a nice time, as well ?” Lauren asked the Vanessa’s.

“Yes, but why didn’t I go back ?” Vicky wondered.

“Perhaps things are more balanced with you here” Santonio suggested. “You said you're not from Night Vale, after all”.

“I didn’t have a visitor” Sonya added.

“I wonder if that means the ax murder has no children” Santonio wondered. “I wonder if that’s an imbalance as well. Maybe Carlos would know about our visitors. I’ll have to inquire with him about this”.

Santonio was finished with Lester’s bandages and had come to sit at Kevin’s feet. The radio host ran his fingers through his hair, combing out the sand. Lester had moved to lie down on his stomach in the living room floor, a pillow beneath his chin, just by Lauren. His shirt was still off and Kevin couldn’t help but think about how pretty he was, even as he touching Santonio.

“Let’s go on a date tomorrow night” Kevin suggested, remembering his previous desire to talk to Lauren in the company of others. “Les could go to, with Lauren”. Lauren immediately blushed and looked down. Lester just looked pissed. Santonio leaned back his head and looked up at Kevin, curiously.

“I think it’s a great idea” Vanessa added, having known this was coming in advance. After all, it had been her job to choose someone for Kevin to throw at Lester.

“Me too” Sonya agreed, as Kevin had instructed her to ahead of time. Not that it had been hard. He’d been prepared to pay the kid, but she was as thrilled at the prospect as he was.

“Really” Lester asked, inspecting his daughter’s face. She nodded with great enthusiasm, hair bobbing along. Lester’s smiled sweetly in defeat. “Alright, I’m game if the lady is”. Lauren was smiling warmly at the spectacle.

“Sure” she agreed.

“Alright then, but I’ll need to work late to make up for today” Santonio agreed. 

\---End 6: The Sandstorm.---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID YOU SEE A TYPO? Don't drink to forget! Report it to the secret police, immediately. 
> 
> What do you guys thinks of my ideas about the sandstorm? 
> 
> I'm currently fighting the urge to write the OT3 into this story.


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